1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an optical distortion device and more specifically to a mechanical apparatus for making a contact copy of a photographic film image with one dimension of the copy lengthened or shortened while the perpendicular dimension is unchanged.
2. Prior Art
Optical or photographic distortion devices are old and well known in the art and perhaps the best known of these involved the use of an anamorphic lens, that is, a lens which has a different magnification of the image in each of two perpendicular directions. The cost of such lenses is prohibitive for many small businesses and they do not provide any flexibility whatsoever. A different lens is required for each and every variation desired in the distortion process.
Other prior art photographic distortion devices mount the negative and the photosensitive sheet in a pair of frames which are supported for rectilinear movement past a light slit. Most of these devices utilize an extremely complex linkage for obtaining a differential rate of movement between the two frames as they pass over a light slit. Examples of such complex linkage arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,616 to Cross and U.S. Pat. No. 3,445,165 to Dubbs.
Still another prior art arrangement utilizes a belt for moving a photosensitive sheet over the surface of a table by a pulley arrangement. A conventional variably transparent positive is positioned stationarily and planarly adjacent to the photosensitive sheet between the sheet and a movable light housing which is mounted on parallel tracks. An example of this arrangement is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,115,081 to Bruce.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,898 to Klann discloses an optical distortion device wherein the photographic image sheet and the photosensitive sheet are secured to two parallel rollers by mechanical gripping means and are pressed into intimate engagement with a light slit by means of a weighted bar as they are advanced past the slit prior to being wound up on the rollers.